An Open Letter To Football Players That Survived Two-A-Days

You lived through it, congratulations.

No one, who hasn't been through it, knows the trials and tribulations of two-a-days. Two-a-day practices even have their own smell (a combination funk of sweat, shoulder pads, and helmet stank).

Just hearing there was such a thing as two-a-days was enough to frighten most people off back in the day. There are stories of people throwing up, passing out, and just plain walking off the field. It really, seriously takes guts to put yourself in that situation when you don't have to.

Two-a-days are so much more than a conditioning effort. To me, they were more of a bonding experience between a bunch of guys who were really trying themselves for the first time. I barely remember the football games I played in, but I remember us guys looking at each other like "oh ____, did we just do that?".

No one knows, and you probably can't count how many laps you took, how many times you hit a blocking sled, or how many times you were forced to fall on your face just to prove you could get back up again. No one will believe how much grass you had to spit out and how much dirt you had to eat to get this done.

I just want to say congratulations. I also want you to know that, short of joining the military, you will probably never have to be this physical again in your life, unless you have more two-a-days in your future. Keep in mind what you just went through and realize that if you can survive two-a-days, you can survive anything.

Good luck to you and your team.

Wes Nessman #78 (O.G., D.T., Brownfield Cubs Class Of 1980)